Why are Iran's corridors less desirable for goods transit?

Stating that the forwarder of goods considers the three factors of cost, time and security to choose a transport corridor, an expert in the field of rail transport said: “Due to the sanctions and the fact that we cannot have financial exchanges, as well as insurance problems, the cost and time of transit from Iran will increase and the desirability of Iran’s corridor for transit will diminish.”

Referring to the fact that all of Iran's God-given capacity has not been employed for the country's transit, Mohammad Javad Shahjouei added: “The market share that we can have from regional transit is about 300 million tons in ideal conditions. That is, if the condition inside the country is good and external factors do not affect it, we may be able to target up to 300 million tons for transit.”

He continued: “Slow internal procedures, interference of institutions and organizations that are involved in the transit issue, and external factors such as sanctions and actions of hostile countries against us have overshadowed a part of our transit. We are facing problems in terms of financial exchanges or transit insurance, which has also reduced a part of transit from Iran.”

This rail transportation expert stated that despite the existing problems, the transit process is positive, and explained: “There is a lot of interest in transit from Iran. Provided that we ourselves improve the conditions and eliminate the internal obstacles, we can think about higher horizons for the transit of the country. Also, in the 7th development plan, 50 million tons of transit has been proposed as a goal, and if we can only remove the internal obstacles, we can reach this value within a few years.”

On the reasons why goods owners hesitate to choose Iran as a transit route, Shahjoui said: “When a forwarder wants to decide on a transportation corridor, he pays attention to three factors: cost, time, and security. Internal and external barriers affect all these three factors. Due to sanctions and the fact that we cannot have financial exchanges, as well as insurance problems, the cost and time of transit from Iran increases, and this is the reason why the desirability of the Iranian corridor for transit is lost.”